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BUSINESS SERVICES

Real Estate

Our Real Estate, Land Use, and Construction team provides tailored legal solutions to a diverse range of clients, including public and private companies, REITs, financial institutions, developers, and more.  We guide real estate developers, commercial property owners, and businesses through every aspect of property investment development, management, and finance, with expertise in commercial real estate and title insurance. 

Our clients, ranging from landlords and tenants to universities and hospitals, rely on us to navigate complex retail and commercial projects, manage assets, and handle commercial and residential real estate transactions. We advocate for their interests in state and federal courts, represent them before administrative agencies and city governments, and offer strategic advice on expanding, renovating, or selling real estate holdings. 

ENTITY FORMATION

  • Establish and manage condominium and homeowners' associations
  • Select and structure entities, including LLCs, limited partnerships, and real estate trusts
  • Form and negotiate joint venture relationships and equity investments
  • Create and maintain REITs

ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION

  • Draft and negotiate brokerage agreements
  • Secure and manage easements and rights of way
  • Conduct environmental due diligence and obtain wetland permits
  • Facilitate like-kind exchanges
  • Perform pre-acquisition due diligence and pre-disposition preparation
  • Draft and execute purchase agreements and options
  • Provide title insurance and closing services
  • Structure and complete sale-leasebacks
  • Negotiate and draft ground leases

FINANCING AND CAPITAL FORMATION

  • Arrange and document commercial mortgage lending
  • Prepare and close loan documentation
  • Structure and manage seller financing
  • Facilitate mezzanine lending
  • Coordinate participations in loans
  • Arrange and manage CMBS transactions

DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION

  • Draft and negotiate construction contracts
  • Develop and manage public/private partnerships and development agreements
  • Navigate land use and zoning approvals
  • Plan and execute subdivisions and platting
  • Draft and enforce restrictive covenants
  • Advise on comprehensive plan amendments

MANAGEMENT

  • Negotiate and manage commercial leases
  • Draft and enforce management agreements
  • Handle real estate tax and assessment matters

LITIGATION

  • Represent clients in real estate litigation
  • Resolve commercial lease disputes
  • Arbitrate, mediate, and litigate construction claims
  • Handle eminent domain and condemnation proceedings
  • Manage evictions and landlord-tenant disputes
  • Foreclose on properties
  • Performed the syndication, acquisition, financing, and construction of a $40 million, 482-unit garden and townhouse apartment development
  • National Real Estate Counsel to a Fortune 500 company in the leasing, acquisition and disposition of various real estate assets
  • Acted as counsel for a national automobile manufacturer for subdivision and zoning issues on an approximately 22-acre parcel for the development of multiple dealerships
  • Represented an owner/end-user in the development of a 140,000-square foot distribution facility, including acquisition process and design/build agreement
  • Served as lead counsel for a commercial office development that is the first project to achieve LEED Platinum pre-certification in Florida
  • Counseled a major hospital in the joint venture and self-development of a health and wellness center
  • Acted as counsel for the purchaser in the acquisition of a railroad line with major environmental issues and negotiated property and joint facility operation agreements
  • Represented a developer in connection with lifestyle shopping centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York including purchase and/or land lease, construction contracts, financing (construction and permanent) and leasing
  • Represented a developer with issues unique to green and sustainable development that arose during site location and acquisition, construction, financing and leasing
  • Represented developer in 1031 reverse build-to-suit exchange; representation included sale of relinquished property, identification and purchase of replacement property and negotiating construction loan. Successfully represented developer in completing build-to-suit replacement property within statutory mandated time frame and maximized benefits of 1031 exchange
  • Counseled major hospitals in multiple medical office building developments and/or dispositions
  • Represented an institution of higher education in connection with its $40 million building expansion project, including preparing and negotiating the development agreement, documenting a land-swap transaction and obtaining and granting Federal Historic Tax Credits, Facade Easements and Lost Development Rights Deductions/Conservation Easements
  • Acted as the zoning and land use counsel for a developer of a multi-million dollar Planned Unit Development
  • Acted as counsel for a developer in obtaining approvals for the largest new development in the Naples, Florida area - a 2,500+ acre mixed use Development of Regional Impact with 3,450 homes, golf courses, and 200,000 - square feet of commercial uses
  • Acted as purchaser's counsel in the syndication, acquisition, and financing of a $65 million, 485,000 - square foot, 27 - story office building
  • Acted as counsel in the acquisition, development, leasing, construction, zoning, and permanent loan work of several grocery-anchored retailer shopping centers, each ranging from $5 million to $10 million
  • Represented a national auto parts store in the expansion of the entity from 70 to 260 stores across the country
  • Acted as counsel to a developer in the acquisition and creation of condominiums and marina slip documents, submerged land lease, and related development work for a 60-unit waterfront condominium
  • Obtained approval from the Division of Florida Land Sales for numerous hotel condominium and multi-family projects throughout the state
  • Represented numerous country clubs in all facets of the turnover from developer to member control
  • Represented a developer in the development and lease of a national retail bookstore
  • Acted as purchaser's counsel in the acquisition of a $55 million mixed use development and the simultaneous sales of building sites for 1,000 apartments, 770,000 square feet of industrial space and 30,000 square feet of office and 125,000 square feet of retail
  • Acted as developer's counsel in closings of Community Development District bond financings and acquisition of conservation areas and storm water facilities
  • Acted as counsel for formation of joint ventures between national builders
  • Represented a national banking association in the multi-state acquisition and leasing of bank branch offices
  • Represented investors for the sales and purchases, financing and leasing of office buildings in Ohio
  • Represented sellers and purchasers with respect to tax free (Section 1031) exchanges
  • Represented a developer for a land lease and a development agreement for the construction and financing of a medical office building in Ohio
  • Represented a developer for the purchase, development and financing for apartment rental and condominium projects in Central Ohio
  • Reduced property valuation for tax purposes on a marina from $26 million to $13 million
  • Represented a developer in the complete redevelopment of a marina including landslide facilities and permitting for redesign of wet slips to include financing, permitting and construction
  • Represented a major resort in the redevelopment of 134 units and related resort amenities
  • Represented a fixed-based operator (FBO) at one of the busiest executive airports in South Florida in the sale of its operations to one of the largest operators of FBO facilities worldwide, with signification tax and government law issues involved; transaction was a hybrid real estate/corporate transaction combining the sale of operating assets with a sublease of the operating facilities from the seller to the buyer, while retaining the rights to develop two commercial outparcels pursuant to the original lease held from the airport authority
  • Represented the largest owner of telecommunications towers in the U.S. in leasing, subleasing, acquisition and disposition of cell tower sites
  • Represented residential property owners in leasing residential property sites for telecommunications towers
  • Represented office property owners in leasing roof and building space for telecommunications antennas
  • Acted as the buyer's counsel for the purchase of a manufacturing facility, which involved coordinating and interpreting an assessment for numerous environmental issues at the site
Key Contact
Lori L. Moore